John e



(No Model.)

J. R. DAY.

FIRE ESCAPE.

No. 246,375. Q Patented Aug. 30,1881.

ATTORNEY N. PETERS. Phbiwlilhugmpller, \Vishinglurv. D. c.

ilnrren- States JOHN B. DAY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.,

ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF 'TO JACOB COHEN, OF SANIE PLACE.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 246,375, dated August 30, 1881.

- Application filed April 14, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN R. DAY, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fire-Escapes; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, whichform a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in fire-escapes, or means employed on the exterior of buildings for the purpose of rescuing the inmates thereof in case of fire; and its ob- 1 ject is to construct and operate afire-escape in such a manner that personsin the building may thereby be rescued without danger ofpersonal injury in using the escape, and so that the apparatus shall not be liable to become disarranged or inoperative, but will be ready for effective service at all times, and can be easily raised and lowered by theperson or persons standing thereon; and, further, to provide the fire-escape with appliances for carrying up a fire-hose to the top of the building, so as to dispense with the use of the laddersordinarily employed for that purpose.

The invention consists in the combination, in a fireescape, of a platform or balcony provided with friction-rollers, by means of which it is fitted to run upon a vertical rod or shaft secured to the building, and a pair of differential pulley-blocks, by which means the said platformis raised or lowered by a person standing thereon, and is held at any point without running, as hereinafter particularly set forth 5 also, in the combination, with the said platform constructed to run upon said vertical rod and the said pulley-blocks, of devices for carrying up a fire-hose to the top of the building, all of which is hereinafter particularly setforth and described.

I am aware that a fire-escape consisting of a platform titted to run up and down a vertical rod or shaft has heretofore been used, but that I do not claim, broadly, as will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanyingdrawings, Figure 1 represents a front elevation of my improved fireescape applied to a building, Fig. 2, a side elevation of the same; Fig. 3, a plan view of the platform, and Fig. 4 a detail view hereinafter referred to and explained.

Similar letters ofreference indicate the same parts in all the several figures.

A may represent a portion of a building to which my improved fire-escape is applied.

B is a vertical rod or shaft, which is firmly secured to the exterior of the building by means of flanges a or other suitable means. This rod may be made of cast-iron and in sections of convenient length.

0 is aplatforin or balcony, which forms the main body of the apparatus, and upon which. the persons rescued from the building are lowered to the ground, and upon which the person who operates the escape stands. It is rectangular in form, and may be of any suitable dimensions. The rear edge is parallel with the wall of the building, and when in operation is only a few inches therefrom, so that a person stepping from a window onto the platform is in no danger of falling.

b b are a pair of friction pulleys or rollers, which run upon opposite sides of the rod B, to keep the platform from swervin g endwise, and which are journaled upon arms secured to the under side of the platform. 0 is another friction-roller, which runs in contact with the front surface of the rod B. b 1) area second pair of friction-rollers, which run upon opposite sides of the rod 13 at some distance below the platform, and which are journaled at the lower ends of arms d d, secured to the under side ofthe platform, near each endofthe same, respectively, and toward the front thereof, for the purpose of keeping the platform in a horizontal position; and c,a second friction-roller running in contact with the front surface of the said rod, which is journaled to an arm, 6, 0 the upper end of which is secured to the under side of the platform.

D D are a pair of pulley-blocks suspended from the upper end of the rod or shaft B, for raising or lowering the escape. The lower 5 block, D, is attached to a sort of tripod, F, secured to the upper surface of the platform, and the upper block, D, is suspended from a hook, it, secured either to the rod B, as shown in the drawings,or to the wall of the building.

The said tripod is placed near the rear edge of the platform, and therefore there is no danger of the latter being swayed so as to move away from the rod B.

lt is not essential that the pulley-blocks should be of any particular kind but in order that there may be no danger of the platform running by reason ofits weight, I employ such as either have suitable brake devices or such as are so constructed as to hold the load at any point, and I have found that what is known as the IVeston differential pulley-blocks are well adapted for this purposednasmuch as they hold the load at any point and do not run down. These said pulley-blocks have been long in use and are well known.

For the purpose of adapting this fire-escape to be used in carrying upafire-hose to the top of the building, I provide a pair of hooksmn, upon the lower block, D, and a sleeve, 0, located in a suitable opening in the floor of the platform 0. Through this sleeve the end of the hose (upon which is the ordinary coupling) is passed, and the arms or horns of the coupling are laid upon the books a a, and may thus be carried up to any particular story of the building or to the top of the same, as may be desired. This arrangement is most clearly shown in Fig. 4. In the said drawings, 1) represents the hose, which is passed through the sleeve 0 aud hung upon the hooks n, as above These hooks a a may be secured set forth.

upon the lower block by any suitable means. To avoid crowding the drawings these devices are omit-ted from Figs. 1 and 2.

From the above description it will be readily seen that my improved fire-escape is very simple in its construction, easily operated by any one standing upon the platform, and not liable to become inoperative by reason of the disarrangement of any of its parts; also, that there is practically no danger attending its use, as it comes directly opposite the win (lows, and all that is necessaryis to step from the window-sill onto the platform.

WVhat I claim as my invention is- 1. The combination of the vertical rod or shaft 13, secured to the building, the platform 0, provided with friction-rollers b c I) c, by which the said platform is fitted to run on said rod and a pair of differential pulley-blocks, D D, which will hold the load without running, as and for the purposes set forth.

2. In combination with the platform C, provided with friction-rollers b 0 b c, and the vertical rod orshaft B, secured to the building, the pulley-blocks D D, sleeve 0, and hooks n for holding the end of a fire-hose, substantially as shown and set forth.

JOHN R. DAY.

\Vitnesses M. H. TOPPING, JOHN S. THORNTON. 

